Know Your
Voting RightsFrom the League of Women Voters of Alabama
Education Fund

What are your
rights as a voter? The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 defined
those rights. It
seeks to
increase voter confidence in the election process and make voting more
accessible to all. It established minimum election administration
standards and created the Election Assistance
Commission.
Here are some HAVA
resources. Be an informed voter when you go to the polls and know
your rights!

Help the LWVAL and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy
Program
(ADAP) assess polling place accessibility. Please download this brief checklist and the instructions. Take the checklist with you to your
polling place, and complete it while there. Look around the polling
site to determine the extent to which various features of voter
accessibility are being met and check the list as appropriate. That's
it - except don't forget to vote! Just mail in the Polling Place
Checklist as instructed. Thank you for your help!

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA)
was signed into law by President Bush
on October 29, 2002. HAVA is the most important piece of
legislation
since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It seeks to increase voter
confidence in the election process and make voting more accessible to
all.

How Does HAVA Affect Alabama
Voters?

HAVA sets rules for the voting system. In general, the voting
system shall:

Permit the voter to check and correct the ballot in
private
before the ballot is cast and counted;

Provide the voter with the opportunity to obtain
another
ballot
if the voter is unable to change the ballot or correct the error

If the voter selects votes for more than one candidate
for
a single office:

Let the voter know that more than one candidate was
selected for that office;

Discuss with the voter the effect of casting
multiple
votes for the same office before the ballot is counted, and

Provide the voter with the opportunity to correct
the
ballot
before the ballot is counted.

Ensure privacy of the voter when advising
him or her of the error.

Produce a permanent paper record of the vote including
any
corrected ballots.

Be accessible for all individuals with disabilities,
including
accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that
insures the same opportunity for access and participation, including
privacy and independence as for other voters.

Provide language accessibility for voters whose
primary
language
is not English in counties where the bilingual population is 5% or
greater.

Define what a vote is and what will be counted as a
vote.

HAVA requires the state to create a single
computerized
voting
list that contains the name and registration information of every
legally registered voter in the State.

If the voter believes that he or she is registered,
but the
person's name does not appear on the voter list, then the voter must
provide written documentation proving that he or she is a registered
voter in that location and eligible to vote in that election. The
individual is then permitted to vote, and the ballot is counted when it
is proven that the individual is a registered voter and eligible to
vote in that election. This ballot is called a provisional
ballot. Election officials must notify a voter who cast a
provisional ballot whether it was counted, and if not, why not.

What Will the Voter Find
at the
Polls?

HAVA requires that specific information be posted at the polling place
on Election Day:

a sample version of the ballot that will be used for
the
election;

information regarding the date of the election and the
hours during which polling places will be open;

instructions on how to vote, including how to cast a
ballot
when there is a problem;

instructions for voters who registered by mail and
first-time voters;

general information on voting rights based on federal
and
state
laws, including information on the right of an individual to cast a
provisional ballot and how to contact appropriate individuals if these
rights have been violated; and

information on federal and state laws regarding acts
of
voting fraud and misrepresentation.

HAVA requires that any individual who votes after the
polls
close
vote a provisional ballot that will be counted as their status as a
registered voter is proven.

Requirements for Voters
Who
Register by Mail

HAVA requires an individual who registers by mail and who has never
voted in the state before to provide specific identification before
being permitted to vote.*

Acceptable identification includes: current and
valid
photo identification or a current utility bill, bank statement,
government check, paycheck or other government document that
shows the name and address of the voter.

NOTE: Alabama law requires that the voter
present
valid identification every time before being permitted to vote. This
law also requires an absentee voter to mail a copy of valid ID
with the ballot (or present valid ID if returning the ballot in person)
in order for the vote to
count.

An exception can be made where a driver's license number or
last four
digits of a social security number given by the voter matches
information in the driver's license database of the Alabama Department
of Public Safety. Voters who do not present ID must be permitted
to cast a ballot (but whether the vote will count is determined by the
provisional ballot system). If a first-time voter casts a vote by
mail, he or she must submit a copy of one of the documents with the
ballot.

This
information was first published by the LWVAL Education Fund in May,
2004. The mission of the League of Women Voters Education Fund is to
provide
funding for projects designed to inform and educate citizens of Alabama
on issues of government and public policy in order to facilitate their
active and informed participation in government.